


The Day That North Said Nope

by Lynn_StarDragon



Series: Purdy [2]
Category: Guardians of Childhood - William Joyce, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Humor, I Regret Nothing!, M/M, Parody, good fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-01
Updated: 2014-01-01
Packaged: 2018-01-06 23:35:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1112832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lynn_StarDragon/pseuds/Lynn_StarDragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The aftermath of <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/1093162">'Purdy'</a> everyone was asking for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Day That North Said Nope

**Author's Note:**

> Now beta'd by the lovely Vihtalaini. All of you should thank her for making this better. And coherent.
> 
> As always, fanarts welcome. Hope you all enjoy! Happy New Year!

 

 

In the town of Santoff Claussen, Ombric stood under the pre-dawn veil of stars gazing thoughtfully up into the heavens. The year had turned to the colder seasons but the bitterness of the winds never reached this magical location. Here everything remained pleasant even if the weather didn't always stay warm or the days remain clear. This morning, however, promised a clear day perfect for watching the skies. It would aid his lessons greatly as well as his memories, not that the latter needed any aid but in quieter moments his thoughts would turn to his apprentice and he would smile to himself about how well Nicholas (the boy would always be Nicholas to him) was doing for himself. So much of the world believed in him now, in the way Ombric always had, that he really had grown into a true wonder to behold, bridging the gap between impossibilities and reality, turning the fantastic into something tangible that children could play with the world over. The wise wizard couldn't have been prouder of his best student. 

Speaking of students Ombric could hear the pitter patter of little and not so little feet drawing near letting him know that hungry minds eager to learn were on their final approach to his general vicinity. The Atlantean hummed thoughtfully at that. It was a good day for lessons really but...  

The children settled into their favorite spots in the grass and branches and bushes and larger toadstools to await the start of their studies for the day. The wise man looked a moment longer at the sky before turning with a soft smile to the younglings gathered almost at his feet. Such precious children, all of them each with such a strong sense of belief... 

"There will be no lesson today." He had finally decided. 

Some turned to look at each other in a fluster. One sibling pair looked ready to cry. A boy just about fell over in a dead faint while one of the girls stared ahead blankly like her mind couldn't comprehend the words coming out of Ombric's mouth. Out of all the chaos one child politely raised his hand. 

"Yes Roderick?" The fatherly teacher turned his attention to the small boy. 

The young lad looked up into his face. "Are you sick?" 

"No dear boy." 

"Is the shadow man back?" 

"Oh, we don't need to worry about him." 

"Then why aren't we having lessons today?" 

Ombric chuckled to himself. Well maybe he should have expected that they would panic just a bit if he didn't explain himself. "Because, children, today I would rather tell you a story." With a wave of his hand the sod and flowers shifted and molded themselves into a suitable chair for the old man to rest his weary bones in. The children that had been so distraught before all sat up with rapt attention waiting to hear the tale the magical man was about to weave for them. 

A knowing twinkle flashed in his eyes as he swept his gaze over his captivated audience, yes today was a good day for storytelling too. 

"Long ago, but not terribly so long ago, once upon another time that we still talk about, I once had an apprentice. Perhaps you've heard me mention him?" He jokingly teased. 

"North!" The children happily shouted having heard the name passed down from the older generations. 

"Yes, that would be his name." Ombric kindly agreed. "That is not, however, the name most know him by." That twinkle from before returned to his eye. "Perhaps you've heard me mention his other name on occasion?" 

"Santa Claus!" One older girl cheered. 

"Yes Elspeth, indeed that is the name the world calls him by. But," he leaned in close for a mock clandestine whisper, "we know better. Nicholas St. North," he leaned back into his chair, "became Santa Claus, a Guardian of Childhood and protector of Wonder." With another wave of his aged hands he called forth a projection of light, color, and sound to make a three dimensional image of the man in question as he was in this age. "He has a knack for blending technology with magic and it has always served him well. However," the warm teacher turned suddenly somber, "it has not always been easy for him. He had to go through many trials and tribulations and sometimes he needed help from his good friends." At times that had included himself as well, but not as much as he would have liked. 

"Poor North," some of the children said sullenly. 

"Poor North indeed." Ombric nodded in agreement. "But my story is about the very worst of the worst days he has ever had. It was a terrible day, an awful terrible day, and we should all be thankful he's never had another day like that since." With a flick of his wrist the image of Nicholas shifted so that instead of an older gentleman with a white beard he was a strapping young man with dark hair and a slightly shorter beard. 

The children huddled closer, wanting to hear the story but also worried about what could have been so bad. Obviously North was fine now, they would be seeing him in only a matter of weeks, but unease lingered in the air. 

The wizened old man looked over his young charges and then nodded to himself. "Children, I must ask: Did you ever hear of that terrible year, way back before you were born, when Santa Claus took a holiday on the night before Christmas morn?" 

The children of Santoff Claussen all paused and looked at each other in confusion. No, the adults had never really talked about that before. 

"A sad day it was," Ombric sighed joylessly and waved for the projection to change images to that of his former student's current home as it had been so many centuries ago. "It was very recently after Nicholas had started in on his role as Santa, and I was still helping him out from time to time..." 

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X- 

The workshop at the North Pole was always a sight to behold, no matter how many times I had seen it. The yetis were bustling about, the elves were underfoot and toys were being made by the thousands to add to the thousands that had already been made. Nicholas needed my help less and less every year and I knew it wouldn't be much longer before he'd have everything up and running by himself. As his mentor, and his friend, I still liked to drop in just to see how he was doing and if he needed any help with things. 

But when I arrived he wasn't on the main floor. I asked the yetis where he was and they said no one had seen him since he'd gone to bed the night before. I rushed to his room and had to peer through the gloom, but sure enough he was still abed. "Nicholas?" I called out to him in worry. 

He only rolled over in his sleep. I was shocked to see him in such a state. I went into his room and tried to rouse him again, with only a little better success. Really he had me worried by then, it would soon be Christmas Eve! He couldn't sleep away the day but it looked like that was exactly what he'd planned to do. 

"Nicholas St. North," I said sternly and took a firm hold of his shoulder, "you get up this instant or I'll conjure a bucket of cold water to dump on you." 

The old boy started from bed with a jolt. "Am up. Am," he yawned tiredly, "being up. Now. Yes." 

One look at him told me It was a good thing I had visited. Of all the silly things he could have done, the young man had worked himself sick! Even as he rubbed his usually bright eyes to clear them I could see he looked tuckered and grey. "Oh Nicholas, you are in sore need of soup." Yes even my apprentice was not exempt from my medicinal foods. 

"Soup, no. Am needing rest more than chicken broth." With another large yawn he started to sink back into his nest of covers. "Am not feeling best anyway." 

"But Nicholas," I pressed urgently, "the children! They'll be expecting you." 

My poor student just huffed and burrowed deeper into his cocoon. "Am sure they won't miss me. Hardly know me. Have only just started. One Christmas will mean nothing. Like snow off reindeer's back. They will be forgetting this all by New Year's." 

Nicholas seemed inconsolably certain and so adamantly sure that no one would even miss him. It was terrible, really, because I knew what he said wasn't true. Oh he might not have been as well known then as he is now, but he most certainly would have been missed. If I had let the boy skip that day then he might never have grown into the Guardian he is now, for just one missed Christmas could have given him more than a little head-cold. 

Thankfully for everyones' sakes he hadn't gone about advertising that he was sleeping the day away. I knew if I couldn't convince him then I would have to call in a few of his friends. Leaving Nicholas to his nap I hurried though the workshop to a place were I could send a message to the other Guardians without being disturbed. You must understand that this was so long ago that it was before the Easter Bunny had joined their ranks, meaning my former pupil only had the Sandman, Tooth Fairy, myself and the denizens of both Santoff Claussen and the North Pole to rely on. That might seem like an awful lot but when Nicholas set his heart on something even armies had trouble stopping him. 

I made my way out to the stables, where the reindeer were warming up for the night's run. They wouldn't mind me but a few of them asked why I was in such a hurry, typical pre-Christmas Eve humor. Since I didn't want them to panic I didn't answer them with anything other than a slight chuckle. With a few twists of magic I had sent a messenger off to both Miss Toothiana and Sanderson Mansnoozie and just had to wait for them to pick up the other side of the line. As luck would have it I fortunately didn't have long to wait. 

Sanderson smiled from the little visual window I had opened for their sides of the call. But a moment later he was frowning at me, probably having picked out how distraught I looked. Seconds later Toothiana's window opened up too. 

"Hello, Ombirc, you're looking--oh!" She covered her mouth in mild shock. "What's the matter? You look like--" 

"Something terrible has happened?" Both of them nodded in response. "Well it hasn't happened yet, but it could. I need both of you to get here as fast as you can. Nicholas is sick and refusing to let me cure him or even go out on his trip!" 

Sanderson was stunned and more speechless than usual. He couldn't seem to process what he'd just heard. Toothiana was hardly any better and three times as flustered. I couldn't really wait long for them to snap themselves out of it, so I said, "I know, I had about the same reaction. Listen, you two simply must get here as fast as you can. Please, come and talk him out of this, tell him that humans do care about him and what he does. You're both much older than he is, Sanderson I dare say you're a far sight older than me, so come and tell him about the ups and downs of being a spirit and what it was like for the both of you to gain believers. Maybe he just needs a bit of a pep-talk." 

Both of them indicated that they would be there soon, though they were a little awkward about it. I admit I might have been a little brusque with them but time was of the essence! I could always apologize later when there was a later to apologize. At that moment the only thing on my mind was getting Nicholas to go on his yearly trip. For that I would need a second opinion and I knew just the yeti to get it from. 

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X- 

Ombric paused in his storytelling when he noticed the children seemed more inclined to reach their hands into the projection of the story rather than listen to him retell it. "Children, is something the matter?" 

"You aren't that thin. Why are you so thin in this illusion?" 

"How come none of the yetis come with North when he delivers gifts?" 

"Will you teach us how to speak reindeer, or will we have to go visit North to learn?" 

"Why weren't the other Guardians there to see North off?" 

The old wizard held up his hands to halt the onslaught of inquiries. "Good questions, all of these, but not so important to our story. Now sit back down and I'll continue on, unless no one wants to hear anymore?" The young ones all protested the idea of not hearing the end of the story and each took his or her seat. "Very good. Now all the yetis are warriors by nature and any good warrior knows how to look for signs of sickness and the basics of dealing with such..." 

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X- 

I headed out of the stables quick as I could to the guard-stations. The yeti I was looking for went by the name of Phil. He had seen many things in his life and had a bit of a talent when it came to medicine though he was far from a healer proper. After pulling him aside I hurriedly told him what was happening with Nicholas. Phil was rightly alarmed and together we both hurried back to my poor student. 

We found him still sleeping the hours away. I didn't want to think about how near the time was drawing, just that we could convince him to at least get out of bed. "Nicholas? Nicholas, are you awake?" When he didn't respond I went about rousing him again. You might all think me cruel to do so, but he didn't have time for sleep. 

"Ombric," he was groggy and a little disoriented but figured out what was going on soon enough. "Have already said am not wanting soup." 

"Let Phil have a look at you." He didn't seem all that convinced at first. "He's an unbiased third party. Let him see what's the matter with you and if you need rest or not." 

"Fine," the young man finally agreed. "Then can get back to resting up." 

Phil gave me a bit of a worried look then started his examination. All the while he muttered and grumbled about Nicholas having indeed worked himself too hard and that he'd been out in the cold too long. His conclusion was that it was all Jack Frost's fault for making the weather so cold and always causing mischief and trying to break into the workshop only to bring more drafts with him. He didn't see any reason not to take the medicine soup since it was just a cold brought on by fatigue and stress not anything more. People clearly believed in him or he wouldn't have been getting stronger each year and if he'd been suddenly losing followers he would have been worse off than just sick. Yes rest would help him recover but not much faster and defiantly not in time to deliver toys that night. 

"There you have it," I tried to convince him once more, "you just need a good meal and a bit of healing magic to be right as rain again." 

"But am not going out tonight." Nicholas started to settle back into his bed. "Have said already that am not going. Will not be missed at all, so why use magic? Better to let body heal naturally, do not want to become dependent on elixirs." I'll admit he had a point there but the world needed him, children everywhere needed him! Nothing I said made a bit of difference, however hard I tried. 

I was reaching my wit's end when a ray of hope showed up. Queen Toothiana and Sanderson managed to arrive just at that moment, and each tried their hand at convincing Nicholas that things were far from bad. "Yes it's hard," the fairy queen had said, "if it were easy all the time Manny wouldn't need to call beings to be Guardians. You have to believe North," she had fluttered over to his side and taken his hands in hers, "you have to believe that things won't always be so grim." The Sandman had quietly agreed and spun symbols fast and wild telling of the hard times he too had lived through as a dreamweaver. This was before he was the last of his kind but the others had already started to go to sleep by then. It was a lonely life being a fallen wishing star and the last of anything. 

My sick student would not be budged though. "Am glad that you both care for me so much, but I am sure rest will be best thing." With that he drew the covers up to his chin and snuggled into the warmth of his blankets and quilts. "Tomorrow will be just as good a day as any other day, and children will be just as good as they have ever been. They are not needing 'Santa' to bring them gifts when they have families to keep them safe and warm." He drifted off as he spoke which might have been why his words were slightly muddled. 

Whatever Nicholas had meant to say it was clear he wasn't going to leave his bed for anything or anyone. With a heavy heart I turned to the others and was met with equally sad expressions. Phil looked inconsolable, he cursed Jack Frost for all his trouble-making coldness and stomped out of the room to spread the word to the other yetis. I looked to the other two Guardians as a plan started to form in my head. It was a bit of a gamble but it could save Christmas if it worked. Naturally the others were interested in any possible ideas that could get our friend's morale soaring again. 

"What we need," I regarded each of them evenly, "is to convince Nicholas that the children do care about him." 

"And how do we do that?" Toothiana had been quick to ask. "North is too sick to leave his bed, and we can't bring children here--their parents would get worried!" 

Sanderson had been in the middle of crafting images of flying children to the workshop on the back of an oversized dream-manatee when the feathered fairy's rationalization had cut him off mid-'scentence'. He shrugged and changed his symbols to showing the children a giant dream-manatee followed by a question mark. 

I agreed that they both had good points. "We may not be able to bring the children here exactly, but a bit of magic to communicate with them audibly and visually should do the trick. Come with me," I headed for the door, "to Nicholas' library. We'll find another piece to the puzzle." The others wasted no time in following me down, and I wasted no time in finding the pair I was searching for. 

If Nicholas could be the son I never had then Katherine would have been his younger sister. At her side was her ever faithful companion Nightlight, a best friend and brother in spirit to her. They were seated together in the grand library pouring over one tome or another that had caught my little Katherine's eye. They looked up the instant we entered, though there was no great sign of worry on their faces. "Father? Is there anything the matter?" 

We told them the dealings of the day and the more we recounted the deeper and deeper grew my daughter's frown. "This won't do," she finally said, "this won't do at all." I could see her clever mind was already at work coming up with a plan or at least puzzling out my own. "We only have a few hours to convince North to change his mind, so we'll need to get a move on now. I don't think all of us should leave here." Ah, she had brilliantly caught on to at least part of my plan and I was proud of her. "We should be in at least two teams, one to stay and keep an eye on North and one to go look for people who appreciate what he does." 

"That is my plan exactly." I could have laughed myself through the floor right then. "Katherine, you and I will remain here with Nicholas to see if we can change his mind." She seemed hesitant but agreed without question. "Toothiana and Sanderson I will send you to the mortal world where there is at least one person who truly believes in 'Santa Claus'." After what we had talked about they were more or less prepared for me to suggest as much. "Nightlight, I'd like you to go with them." This was bit of a surprise to everyone. "You and Katherine have a special connection, one that I know you two will be able to use to communicate if the Guardians need to contact me. I'll be able to reach you at any time, so long as you're all awake." My messengers were, and still are, particularly good at finding people so I knew I wouldn't have any problems calling them. 

With that settled and everyone knowing their part I worked a spell to send the three spirits on their way. Before I let them set off, however, I gave them fair warning, "Because Christmas is so near people will be able to see you as fellow humans, even if they don't exactly believe in your true selves." Little did I know at the time that when I sent them on their way that the Easter Elf had slipped through with them. 

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X- 

Ombric drew up short again as more little hands shot up into the air. 

"Why was he called the Easter Elf?" One young girl asked. 

"Well, Drusilla, if you look at the projection you will see he's brightly colored in very vibrant spring-like paints." Ombric's eyes twinkled with a bit of mirth. "Again, this was before Aster became a Guardian but he was already known as the Easter Bunny. Oh how he and Nicholas bicker over their holidays, even to this day. You could say that elf was a bit of collateral damage in their ongoing verbal war." 

Just as the wise wizard was about to press on with his story another hand shot up. The magical man tried not to groan when he saw who was attached to that hand and he almost dreaded the question to be asked. "Yes James?" 

"Is Santa dead? Did he die? Does that mean he's a ghost now? Is it okay to get presents from a ghost if they come from the spirit realm?" The young boy rattled his questions off with uncanny speed and all the seriousness of a reporter on a fact finding mission. 

"What?!" Ombric sputtered. "James, no! Nicholas is _fine_ and he's never been dead! Why would you even think that?" 

"You died once, and got better." The boy deadpanned. 

"No, I was eaten once. There's a difference." The old Atlantean looked back to the projection with the vain hope the conversation had ended. 

"The bear was dead, and you helped him get better." James oh so helpfully pointed out. 

Ombric nodded thoughtfully as he couldn't really deny any of that. "True, but that was complicated and not part of this story. If none of you have any more questions about _this story_?" He waited for more little hands to rocket upward and smiled brightly when none did. "Very good. As I was saying..." 

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X- 

The Guardians arrived in a quaint little place called Southtown, located somewhere in present day Dixie USA. They noticed the little tag-along almost immediately. Toothiana told me later that it had still been too late to send the elf back through with how quickly the teleportation gate snapped shut. 

"Well," the fairy queen sighed with resignation, "it looks like all four of us will be searching now." 

Sanderson had wondered if maybe they should spread out or at least go airborne seeing as they could each fly and the Easter Elf was small enough for any of them to carry. While they wanted to find children who believed in Nicholas and were grateful for what he was doing they also didn't want to draw too much attention to themselves. Unfortunately they were a rather colorful bunch and had already attracted the attention of a local constable. 

"Oi, what's all this then?" The mortal had stopped them just as they were about to leap into the sky. 

"Ah," Toothiana was the only spirit among them who could vocalize her thoughts so communication naturally fell to her. "We were just passing through town, trying to bring a bit of Christmas cheer?" The others all nodded heartily, the little elf even went so far as to make his bell jingle and jangle musically. 

"Well," he pulled out a piece of paper and started to write something on it, "that's no excuse for loitering on private property, caroling with an underaged baby, and wearing funny costumes on a Sunday. Here," he ripped off the ticket and handed it to the colorful woman, "you'll be expected in court by the end of the business day." With that done the constable headed off down the road looking for more troublemakers. 

Nightlight and Sanderson both looked at each other then at the ticket in Toothiana's hand. What were they supposed to do with this? The Easter Elf solved the problem for them by grabbing the ticket and promptly eating it. The fairy queen couldn't even argue with that as they had no time to appear before a judge nor were they truly bound by mortal laws. 

Sanderson waved for them to press on, they certainly weren't going to find anyone who cared about Nicholas just standing about. For the sake of safety they stuck together. They went forth through the town not passing any souls in the streets along the way, as if everyone was constantly somewhere doing something else. Eventually they found an older woman resting under the cool shade of a tree as she watched the world spin. At her side was a furry blanket, possibly if she grew too cold. The spirits carefully approached her, the little elf hiding behind Nightlight's legs. The spectral boy was the first to wave to her and call her attention to them as they neared, so she wouldn't be startled. 

"Excuse me, madame," Toothiana had called out, "we have a question for you, if you don't mind?" 

They have all said the old woman hadn't answered them right away, just looked at them for a long moment like she wanted nothing to do with them but wasn't sure she could get up to run back into her house. Instead she just nodded ever so slightly, the only indication she had heard them and would acknowledge their presence. 

"Thank you, madame." If nothing else the Tooth Fairy was a determined sort. "We were just wondering, do you celebrate Christmas?" 

"I do," came the drawled reply. If I had been with them I would have told them to stop there and run. 

"Oh lovely!" Her hopes were raised up, "Does that mean you believe in Santa Claus?" only to be dashed with the sudden dark look on the woman's face. 

"Why should I? He only leaves sweets for children, even the little hellions get something. No, there are more important people to remember on _Christ_ mas day." 

Sanderson had tried to venture closer, to silently plead with her that the day couldn't be that bleak. Instead the blanket at her side lifted a furry head and it was then that the Guardians realized that it wasn't a blanket but a shaggy dog! It was probably there to guard the old woman to boot. It started to growl at them in the same way as the woman at any rate. "Now I told you I don't care none for no Santa, so _git_!" With that the dog started to bark and looked ready to pounce on them, so the four beat a hasty retreat. 

 _Well_ , Nightlight flickered miserably once they were a safe distance away, _that wasn't very helpful_. 

 _Or very nice_ , Sanderson spelled out with his sands. 

"I know," Toothiana put the elf back upon the ground before he wriggled out of her arms, "but we can't give up. North is counting on us to find _someone_ who cares about him." The others agreed with her but where could they look if all the adults around town were being so inhospitable? 

Just then came the loud jingle-jangle from the Easter Elf's hat. The spirits turned to see the little one frantically bouncing up and down while pointing excitedly off in the distance where a cluster of children were playing in an open park-like area. There were no fences, so it wasn't private property, and it was large enough that the children were away from the streets, meaning the Guardians didn't have to worry for anyone's safety. Well that was only slightly true, the Easter Elf was so small that Nightlight was worried he'd be crushed underfoot if he went over with them. He found a nice bush for the little elf to sit by before following the others over to the children. 

It was a mixed group of children, boys and girls of about similar age. Some had hats and some didn't, at least one had spectacles. They looked like just the types to have received gifts from and believe in Nicholas. The younglings stopped playing their game of tag as the others reached them and again Toothiana did the talking. 

"Excuse us, but we were wondering if any of you had heard of Santa Claus?" 

The children all looked at each other, silently debating on who would speak for them. Eventually one brave boy spoke up for the lot. "We've heard of him." The crowd parted to let a dark skinned young boy and his brother through to the front. 

"Great! Do you believe in him?" 

"Nope," the brother who had spoken before, the one with the hat, continued. 

"Not that it changes much," the other hatless brother added. 

All three Guardians were shocked to hear such a thing. The plan to get children to believe in them had been going so well... 

"Santa is for little kids anyway," the first brother agreed while the other kids started to nod. "He's not going to come." 

"What makes you say that?" The fairy queen had been very worried at this point, because there logically shouldn't have been any reason for them to doubt Nicholas' arrival. 

"Because," the boys said together. 

"We're not little kids--", one brother spoke matter-of-factly. 

"--we're more mature than that--", the other brother added in a deadpan. 

"--we don't need any baby toys," they ended together on the same condescending note. Many of the other children nodded too. 

 _This is terrible_ , Sanderson signed dourly. They had put plenty of hard work into spreading the legend of Nicholas around the world. Now when he was feeling his worst children had given up on him. 

Nightlight prompted the children asking in his own way if they cared if Nicholas came to visit them or not, even if they didn't think he was real. 

"Maybe," a taller brown haired girl added, "if we saw him or he left us little gifts. We aren't so old yet, I'm not even engaged!" The other children repeated much the same. 

"I know that he'll leave something for all of you this year, whether you think he's real or not," Toothiana assured them. 

"Why do you care so much what we think?" A boy with brown hair asked cautiously. 

"Because," the fairy queen said gently, "he's our friend and he thinks people don't care about him. It's enough to make a spirit sick!" 

The children all looked at the three of them dubiously, and Toothiana realized what she'd just blurted out. It was the truth but if they thought Santa was a work of fiction while she looked like a typical human to them there was every possibility they could think her unhinged or out of touch with reality. If they thought anything like that it would be that much harder for her to convince them of anything, including the existence of Nicholas. 

Before the conversation could go further the brothers both looked up at something in the distance. "Hey," the one without a hat asked, "is that your dog over there?" 

"Dog?" Toothiana spun around in time to see a man pick up the squiggling elf and throw him into a cage. "Oh no!" She flew over to stop the man from riding off on his horse. "Please sir, that's not a dog." 

"Well he was sitting around without a collar and panting like one." The uniformed man tiredly sigh. "If you want him back there's a fine." 

"Oh, but," she produced a few golden coins for the man, "this is all we have." 

"That won't do. That won't hardly do." He hitched the cage to the side of the saddle and climbed up on the brown steed. "How do I know if that's pure gold? Take those to a money-changer who can give you their worth in the local currency, then we'll see about your little friend here." 

 _But where are you taking him?!_ Nightlight fretfully flashed. By this time he and Sanderson had joined them to overhear what was going on wearing equally worried expressions. 

The man just looked at them suspiciously before shaking his head. "I'm taking him to the pound. Don't worry, people will be able to tell you where to find it and the money-changers." With that he spurred his horse into motion to ride off with the captured elf, who was trying to chew threw the bars of his cage. 

What could they do? If they used their powers in the open they would frighten the people. Whatever the humans saw when they looked at the Guardians the illusion wouldn't stop them from seeing the outsiders use 'witchcraft' to rescue their friend. After something like that people would likely believe in the possibility of Santa Claus but they wouldn't be very inclined to help them. They would have to do things the human way for now. 

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X- 

"But if they were found out, wouldn't the people just see them as their real selves?" 

"What?" Ombric's thoughts derailed as he looked around at the children. "Yes, maybe, it's possible." His keen eyes alighted on James again, the apparent source of the questions this time. The children were still paying attention to the projection but they looked somewhat ready to fall over asleep. 

"Then why didn't they just grab the Easter Elf? They had the power, then they could have told everyone who they were. Problem solved." 

"If only it were that easy." The old teacher sat back and stroked his beard thoughtfully. "There needs to be a willingness to believe and in those darker times people were more willing to believe in witches who wanted to do them harm than spirits who wanted to bring them joy. The Guardians weren't very well known yet and they had to move carefully lest they cause more trouble than they could solve. Besides," he looked pointedly at his young charges, "if anyone suspected they were witches than no one would have helped them for fear of being condemned by the rest of the town. Now, where was I?" 

A collective groan went up from the children then, much to the old man's annoyance. "What is it now?" 

"Is the story much longer?" One girl asked. 

"Tamanna!" What was wrong with the children today? "Don't any of you want to hear the rest of the tale?" 

"Maybe, it's really weird." Some of the other children seemed to think the same thing. 

Ombric huffed moodily and sank deeper into his seat. "Well you're all going to listen to this story until it's done." He ignored the dejected sounds of his students. "Now as I was saying the Guardians had to do things the human way for the moment, but Katherine and myself were still hard at work up at the North Pole. You see, we weren't slacking off while the others wandered around the mortal world..." 

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X- 

Nicholas was deep in sleep, resting away the hours. While it would do him some good I was augmenting his recovery with a bit of magic. Every little bit could help convince him to go on his trip. Katherine had another idea however as she continuously stared at my poor student's iconic coat. 

"Father," she suddenly turned to me, "if we can't convince Nicholas to go flying tonight, do you think we could take his place?" 

"What do you mean?" The healing spell wasn't very taxing so I could split my attention between several other tasks easily. 

"Do you think we could take his place?" Katherine stood and crossed the room to gather up Nicholas' coat. "You have a long white beard, and I can help you deliver the toys. I'm sure if we call everyone back to the workshop before we have to leave they'll be willing to deliver toys too." 

She did have a point, if we couldn't convince him to go we might very well have had to travel in his place. Nightlight could fly very fast and there was nowhere in the world barred to him. Toothiana and Sanderson made the trip every night, more or less, so they would be practiced hands at getting in and out of houses quickly. With my magic I could have glamoured all of us to look like the spitting image of Santa Claus. "It's a good plan. If Nicholas doesn't wake in the next few hours and we hear nothing from the others we'll call them back and get to work on that." 

"Working on what now?" Nicholas groggily spoke up from his sickbed. 

"North!" 

"Nicholas!" We were both ecstatic to see he was awake again. 

"Katherine, Ombric, why are you both in room?" He sleepily asked. "Have you not heard? Am not going out tonight. Will be sleeping in, need to rest." 

"We know," my dear daughter was quick to answer. "Maybe some soup would help you feel better?" 

My clever student saw through the ruse of my equally clever child. "Will not be wanting any of Ombric's soup, no." He chuckled softly, to show that he was not mad at her. "Want to heal naturally, with sleep. Besides, could be last time in long time will be able to sleep in." He might have meant it as a joke, but it sounded rather gloomy to us. 

"But why do you want to stay home, dear boy?" I pleaded with him to tell us his reasons so that we might understand. 

Nicholas just shook his head dejectedly. "What is being point? Will not be missed, am not cared about by humans. Should stay in and rest up, then next Christmas Eve will be fit and able to go. They will forget how I stayed home this year very quickly." 

"That's not true," Katherine had cried out. "Children do care, and they will miss you terribly. It _is_ worth it to go out tonight, Nicholas, every Christmas spreads your name." 

"Maybe," he looked like he was starting to come around. If nothing else he looked much healthier for having slept with a bit of magic to restore him. I was feeling more confident about convincing him to go on his trip. 

"I'm sure of it," Katherine insisted. "When everyone comes back you'll see for sure." 

"What?" 

For a moment we were both very still as it dawned on us what had just happened. As Nicholas glared at the pair of us we turned to look at each other. The jig was up, and before anything was even started! 

"Ombric, what has been going on while I was being asleep?" 

I could never lie to any of my friends or loved ones. "Ah, you see I sent Toothiana, Sanderson, and Nightlight into the human world to find some form of proof that there were people who cared if you showed up tonight or not." 

"By _Balakirev_ , why would you be doing something so reckless!?" Nicholas pushed himself out of his bed with a bit of fire in his eyes. "Today of all days people are seeing things they should not be seeing. But they are seeing them just as human as themselves!" He started to get dressed, huffing and puffing as he went. "No telling how much trouble they could be getting in. Toothiana is only one who can talk, what if they are not together?" My irate ex-apperentice turned to me with a merciless scowl. "How are they contacting you? When was last time you talked with them?" 

"We talked when I sent them off, they haven't called in yet." Before I could say more Nicholas was muttering to himself as he gathered the last of his things. "I'm sure they're fine. They are old enough and experienced enough to handle themselves." 

"Old enough, maybe, but experienced with humans?" He sharply turned to face me again. "No. They have not any of them lived with humans as _we_ have." He stalked towards me with an accusing finger raised. "When they visit children it is only after everyone is already asleep. No interaction with, no observation of humans. Thus, they are having no idea how to act around humans." With that said he settled his hat onto his head. "Now, where are they? Must go and collect them before is too late." 

"My magic guided them I know not where, only that wherever they are people there care about you." I informed him evenly. 

That did nothing to brighten his mood. "Then we are needing to call them and see how they are doing and where they are." 

Seeing there was no way around it I conjured up another messenger to send to the group. It wasn't too long before it located the Guardians and their collective images were projected into a little visual window we could all see. 

"Hello everyone, Nicholas is up and we were wondering how you were all doing." I tried not to sound as stressed and worn as I felt. 

"Well," Toothiana looked around at something outside of our range of vision, "we've run into a little snag. Funny thing," she giggled anxiously, "you know that one little Elf who went for a swim in Bunny's color river? He followed us and well, it's nothing to big but," she took a deep breath so that should could say all of the next part without pause, possibly knowing that she wouldn't be able to continue if she gave us any chance to respond. "The-people-see-him-as-a-dog-and-a-man-took-him-to-the-pound-so-we-have-to-go-get-local-money-because-they-don't-want-my-coins-and-everyone-here-is-really-grumpy-and-we-haven't-found-anyone-who-cares-about-Santa-or-us." There was a moment of stunned silence as the information sunk in. Humans had one of the Elves and the others couldn't rescue him. "Okay we have to go now bye!" 

"WAIT!" We all shouted before she could close her side of the call. 

Nicholas pushed forward to take control of the conversation. "Tooth, where are you?" 

"Southtown." 

"Ah, am knowing that place." He sighed wearily. "Will be there soon. Just keep calm--" 

Sanderson flew into the picture and started to sign his irritation at the whole situation. _North, you don't need to come rescue us. You DO need to stay put and recover. We can get the Easter Elf back without issue and find at least one person who cares about Santa Claus in this town._  

"Is not being up for discussion, Sandy. Will be there for little Elf soon--" 

"With what power?" Toothiana cut in. "You're not well, just stay put and let us handle this." She had to look away at something in their surroundings, most likely to make sure they were not being observed by humans. 

In that moment Nightlight darted into view. In his own quiet way he was able communicate with Katherine and she was able to relate his opinion that we all needed to stay put while they worked to solve what was happening with them. With that he closed their side of the line and the three of us were left looking at a blank screen. 

Nicholas however wasn't about to take all of that laying down. "May be sick, but am not infant." With that he turned to head for the door. I thought he meant to walk out and let go of the husk of the dead communication spell to stop him. Instead he simply opened the door and shouted, "Come Donner!" A moment later, before either of us could react, one of the reindeer stomped into the room and Nicholas wasted no time in swinging himself up onto the beast's back. "We will go to Southtown." He smirked at both of us, looking only slightly flushed. "Have invented little something, might make trip faster." 

"North, it shouldn't just be Donner with you." Katherine stood up as I walked closer. "We'll go too." 

"No. Here you can help others. Ombric," he turned his slightly angered gaze on me, "am not happy with what you have done. None of it. You are needed here to help keep workshop running smooth as ice while I am out fixing problem. When am back, will have long talk about today." With that he reached into his pocket and pulled out a snow-globe and whispered something to it. 

At the time I had no idea what the significance of the device was, for if I had I would have caught it before the glass orb hit the floor. Instead it shattered when it impacted the ground and a portal opened. He rode through without hesitation leaving the pair of us to gap after him in astonishment. I knew the spell but to have it tied to an object, even for a one use casting rather than a permanent enchantment, was remarkable. I was by halves impressed and infuriated with my former student and wished dearly in that moment that he wasn't nearly as ingenious as he was. I could have easily followed him but he was right, where Katherine and I were at the North Pole we could help anyone who contacted us, not to mention there were yetis and other elves to keep in order.  

But while Katherine and I were holding down the fort and Toothiana and the others were trying to recover the Easter Elf, Nicholas materialized in Southtown.

  

Nicholas told me he had managed to appear somewhere in the shadows where none saw him. After a quick look around he dismounted Donner to hobble about on his own. "You will be needing to sniff out elf while staying out of sight." The reindeer understood and kept himself hidden as best he could, they didn't need anyone else getting dragged off to the pound. But without his animal friend to lean on, Nicholas had a bit of trouble standing on his own. To top things off he had left the reach of my magics that had been healing him, so his cold started to act up again which sent him into a sneezing fit. 

"Hey, are you okay?" 

Nicholas looked down to see who had spoken to him only to find it was the twins who had run into the other Guardians. He didn't know that at the time, or maybe things would have gone a little differently. But not knowing who he was talking to, Nicholas just smiled at the boys. "Is just little cold. Nothing so serious." As if in defiance of his words his body was wracked with coughs again. 

"You better come with us, mister," the hatted boy took his hand and started to pull him along. 

"Yeah, mom will know how to fix you right up." The other boy walked around to Nicholas' other side to help buffer him from any people on the street. 

"You are good boys." His eyes unfocused a little as he smiled, trying to see their names. He knew everyone's names, after all, this wasn't such a hard thing for him to do. 

"Will you tell our mom that?" They asked in unison with matching grins. 

"Ha, yes! If," Nicholas took a moment to sneeze, "if you are telling me your names." 

"Caleb," the boy with the hat stated, "Caleb Thistlewhite." 

"Claude," the other boy added, "Claude Thistlewhite." 

"Nicholas St. North, and now we are all knowing each other." Yes, these were two very good boys. 

The twins led Nicholas back to their house where they were greeted by the boys' parents. The adults could hear Nicholas coughing well before any of them made it anywhere close to the front door. They wasted no time in ushering him inside where Mrs. Thistlewhite had a tall mug of her home-brewed remedy tea waiting for him. 

"Drink up," Mrs. Thistlewhite smiled encouragingly to him, "it'll help you feel better." 

" _Da_ , many thanks." My student did as he was instructed, knowing better than to turn down their kind hospitality. 

"You're new in town," Mr. Thistlewhite wasn't asking. "We don't get many visitors here, mister..." 

"Nicholas St. North." 

"That's an interesting name."

"I am maybe interesting man?" Even when sick Nicholas was able to lift the spirits of those around him and the family laughed at his turn of phrase. "I travel world, see many things and people. Have yet to find someone who is not interesting to be around." 

"Have you met Santa Claus?" Claude suddenly spoke up. 

Nicholas said nothing, as he was too surprised by the question. Luckily the children's father filled the silence. "What's with the sudden interest in him?" 

"Nothing really," Caleb answered, "just that some people were talking about him earlier. They asked a bunch of us if we thought Santa was real." 

As you can imagine Nicholas went very quiet at that, listening very intently to what the children had to say. 

"Well," Mr. Thistlewhite verbally nudged, "what did you tell them?" 

The twins smiled together before they answered in unison. "He's not real." 

Luckily Nicholas managed not to spit out any of his tea and kept a neutral face. 

"What would make you say that?" Mrs. Thistlewhite sounded aghast. 

"Because he's not," Caleb stated with unwavering conviction, which his brother mirrored. 

Claude turned to their guest with curious eyes. "What about you, St. North? What do you think?" 

Nicholas took another large sip of his tea before he set the mug down. "I am knowing he is real. I feel it, in my belly." 

"Really?" The twins asked together. 

" _Da_ , is truth." 

The boys looked unsure for a moment. An adult had said Santa was real, so maybe there was some truth to the stories. 

"You know, I believe in him too." Mr. Thistlewhite added and his wife added her support. The boys were positively floored by the idea of both their parents and a worldly stranger all believing in Santa Claus. "If I had to measure it, I'd say I believe in Santa Claus like I believe in love." 

"Whoa, that's pretty serious," Caleb turned to Claude who looked to feel the same way. Their dad never did things lightly, so for him to say that meant there really might have been something to the story. 

"How long have you been believing?" Nicholas asked as nonchalantly as he could. 

"I can tell you exactly when, the Christmas Eve before I turned eighteen." Mr. Thistlewhite smiled as he shook his head ruefully. "Like my boys I gave up on him for a time. I listened to all the other people who said he couldn't possibly be real, that I was too old to believe in silly things like Santa. And I went, lived my life for a while, not really knowing what I was missing. But I gradually began to realize that the world didn't seem as bright or feel as joyful as it had before. It still took me a while to put it all together," he gave his wife a loving smile. She smiled back just as adoringly and reached out her hand to him as she walked closer. He took her hand in his, before briefly kissing the back of her knuckles, each and every one. 

"You see, boys," Mr. and Mrs. Thistlewhite both turned to face their sons, "I realized that Santa Claus is more than just a person. If I was too old to believe in Santa Claus, then I was too old to believe in the best things in life. I was too old to believe in wonder or magic or joy or caring for others. If I was too old to believe in Santa Claus, then I was too old to believe there was anything good left in life. That thought woke me up in the middle of the night on that Christmas Eve, and wouldn't you know it? He happened to be passing by my bed on the way to putting gifts under the tree. 

"Just seeing him was enough but even if I hadn't I had realized something important: Santa Claus is a symbol of caring and wonder." At the confused looks on his children's faces he elaborated. "During the season people like to help each other out more, they get filled with this feeling, you could call it the 'spirit of Christmas'. More than that, isn't it nice to live in a world where Santa is real? Just think of all the other things that are possible if that's true." 

"I guess," Caleb conceded as he looked at his twin Claude who nodded in agreement. 

"Trust me," Mr. Thistlewhite smiled kindly, "The world can always use more wonder and mystery. Now then," he turned to look at their current houseguest who was still drinking the herbal tea they'd offered him. "So Mr. North, what is a interesting man such as yourself doing in our small town?" 

My former apprentice smiled knowingly then picked up his tea to sip at again. "Am here for a bit of business, and to find missing friends. They would be dressed very very much like me but not too much? Different than most in town, yes." 

"Oh," the twins perked up together, "we saw them!" 

"They talked to a few of us." Claude offered. 

"At least until the dog catcher came and took their dog away." Caleb added. 

"Their... dog." Of course they had no idea the pet was actually an Elf. "What happened to little doggy?" 

"Well the dog catcher came and took it away to the pound," Caleb continued. "The three of them are probably on their way there to get it back." 

As Toothiana had mentioned they would need money to do that. Nicholas had the kind of currency the people of town would be interested in but the others didn't. "So, where is pound?" It made the most sense for him to get back the Elf and bring everyone back to the North Pole _if_ he ran into them. He had found a few people who believed in and cared about him which brightened his spirits. The last thing he needed was the others finding out no one else in town felt the same way to bring his moral back down again. They could take care of themselves and travel under their own power so they would easily be able to make it back to the workshop or their own homes. 

"Near the center of town," Mrs. Thistlewhite piped up, "you can't miss it." 

"Many thanks." With that Nicholas drained his tea in one gulp and bid the family adieu before he rushed out of the house with great haste. 

The others followed him out to make sure he didn't stumble even though he seemed well enough. Nicholas called for Donner who stormed out of his hiding spot into broad daylight. The Thistlewhite family was taken aback as they watched what they thought was a young man leap onto the back of what was clearly not a dog. With a kick of his heels Nicholas urged Donner to take flight and the glamour concealing the two shattered. There in the air and quickly acceding was Santa Claus on the back of one of his reindeer. 

"Did he just--" 

"That was really--" 

"We had Santa in our house!" 

They all stood about chattering excitingly for a few minutes before reality seemed to catch up with the boys. They gave their parents a more in-depth rundown of the conversation they'd had with the other three spirits, including the important realization Toothiana had come upon. 

"She said that everyone not believing in Santa was making him sick!" Caleb worriedly shouted. Everything they had been saying before must have just made things worse. They felt guilty and somewhat responsible for their part in making Nicholas unwell. 

Claude looked between their parents, that same guilt coloring his features. "What do we do?" 

Mr. Thistlewhite knelt down so that he was eye lever with his sons. "You do what you think is right, anything that you think could help Santa." 

The twins looked at each other thoughtfully. The other spirits had been trying to get the 'dog' back but Nicholas was going to get it now. There was the issue about him being sick because people didn't believe in him but how could they get everyone in town to believe in him? The only one who had that kind of power would have been the mayor. Maybe if they convinced him to believe he could help convince the rest of the town Santa was real. If nothing else it would at least be another person who believed in Santa. 

Once they relayed their idea to their parents their father not only gave his consent but urged them to carry it out as quickly as possible. Off the pair went towards the mayor's office only to run into Toothiana, Sanderson, and Nightlight along the way who they could now see for what they truly were. Both parties talked with each other as they headed to the town hall. Apparently the Guardians had been unable to find anyone who would exchange their coins with so they had been on the way to see the mayor to petition him to have the Easter Elf released. The boys explained everything that had happened to them since they had all parted ways and how they were going to see the mayor about having him encourage the town to believe in Santa. Everyone came to the consensus that they should stick together as they would have an easier time convincing the man in a group. 

Perhaps things would have gone more smoothly if someone had explained that part of the plan to the mayor.

  

The man sat and listened to everything the five of them had to say about spirits and magic and Santa Claus with an indifferent air. He didn't bat an eye when the Guardians introduced themselves as the Tooth Fairy, Sandman, and a specter by the name of Nightlight. He hardly had any reaction to the boy's impassioned retelling of their meeting with Santa Claus and how sick he had seemed to have been before they had started to believe in him. When all was said and done the man just sat there frowning at all of them. 

Finally he spoke, but he didn't look at all convinced when he did. "You want me to believe in Santa Claus?" He shook his head incredulously. "More than that, you want me to believe you three are who and what you say you are? And that there's an Elf sitting in the pound possibly about to be rescued by Santa Claus? Preposterous!" he jumped up, "Ridiculous!" he sneered, "That's the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard!" 

"But it's true!" The boys wailed. 

"We really are spirits!" Toothiana cried in shock while Nightlight and Sanderson flashed and signed the same. 

"Ha!" The mayor folded his arms. "You're all loony if you ask me. I would be crazy too if I just swallowed everything you had to say. Oh no," the man sat back down in his chair and cast a baleful gaze over the lot of them, "in order to believe even ten percent of your story I would need some kind of proof. If you all are who you say you are and you boys talked with who you say you did, then between you all you should have the kind of magic or supernatural powers to make it snow in Southtown for the first time in one-hundred years!" 

"Make it snow?" Everyone (who could) repeated in confusion. 

"In Southtown, yes." The mayor smugly nodded to himself. "If you can make it snow here not only will I believe you but I'll see to it the whole town believes in Santa Claus too. I'd even go so far as to call up all the other mayors and make it a national holiday for Santa!" 

"You promise?" The boys spoke up before the Guardians could. 

"Cross my heart." The mayor laughed back. 

Nightlight just frowned at that. It was already the day before Christmas, soon to be Christmas eve. By the time they could get it to snow in town it already _would_ be Nicholas' holiday, and an international one at that. Maybe the mayor meant something different, but humans sure could be strange sometimes. When he conveyed his thoughts to the others they all quietly agreed. However since the mayor was 'helping' them they didn't want to press their luck by pointing that flawed logic out. 

They took their leave and headed out from the office to plan out their next move.

  

Meanwhile while the Guardians and the children were trying to figure out how to make it snow, Nicholas had found the dog pound. He easily paid off the fine and retrieved the Easter Elf, chatting with the dog catcher as well. 

"That little guy sure put up a fuss at first, but now look at him. That pup looks ready to fall asleep." 

"Am not surprised," Nicholas chuckled to himself, "he ate all the dog food you put in cage with him. Belly is so full he couldn't even eat a single cookie." The Easter Elf pouted up at him, but soon limply flopped back into his hold. 

"Be that as it may, I had some other people interested in him earlier." The dog catcher continued conversationally. "He doesn't have any tags on him saying he belonged to them, but they seemed pretty dead set on getting him. Sent them off to get some real money to pay the fine." 

"Am knowing them," he answered evenly, "friends of mine. This is my 'dog' and if they come here please let them know that little Elf is safe and sound and on way home." With that he headed for the door reaching into his pocket as he did so. As luck would have it he did not have another snow-globe on him, seeing as in his haste to get to Southtown he had forgotten to grab one for the return trip home. 

"'Elf' is a funny thing to name a dog, even if he is small for a puppy." The other man followed Nicholas outside to where my former student called for Donner. He met up with Nicholas just in time to see the majestic beast pull up along side him. 

Nicholas only smiled enigmatically as he turned back to the other man. "No, you see Elf is not being name of little doggy. Little doggy is _being_ little Elf. And we are going home." With that he swung himself up onto Donner's back and settled the Easter Elf between his antlers. 

"Wait!" That man gasped as both rider and steed turned to look at him. "W-who are you?" 

"Who am I? _Who_ am _I_?" Nicholas gave a burst of rich deep belly-rumbling laughter. "Am Nicholas St. North, Guardian of childhood Wonder!" 

"Who?" 

He gave the man a conspiratorial wink, "Maybe you are knowing the name 'Santa Claus'?" The man didn't look convinced but Nicholas didn't have the time to persuade him, instead he chose to let his actions speak for themselves. "Donner, home! To North Pole!" With that the beast leapt into the air to carry both passengers away. While none of them were able to see the dog catcher's reaction they did hear him gasp in astonishment. North smiled to himself as he felt the warmth of a new believer flow through him.

  

Now please don't think Katherine and I were standing idly by while all this was happening, oh no. As I said Nicholas had called me to the workshop to help things run smoothly, which I was doing. Katherine was helping where she could with her clever imagination and insight on the kinds of things children wanted. She was also doing her best to keep moral up as Phil had let word spread that Nicholas was entertaining the idea of not flying that night. We kept them working, kept them believing that we would be able to change his mind and that Christmas would still happen. 

But as Nicholas was flying home the Guardians finally worked out a bit of a plan. It was at this point that, back at the North Pole, Katherine suddenly turned to me while we were moving between the different assembly lines of toys. She pulled me aside to a quieter corner of the workshop so I could hear her better. 

"Nightlight says they need your help." She calmly told me. "It doesn't sound like anyone is in danger, but the sooner the better." 

"Did Nightlight tell you what's going on?" Already we were moving to someplace where I could talk to them with a bit of privacy. Not only would I be able to hear them easier but I didn't want anyone else in the workshop to overhear anything disheartening. 

"No, they don't want to waste time telling the story twice." She explained plainly. I had to admit it did make sense, it was enough to know something was up and we needed to contact them. 

I sent off a messenger at the first opportunity and once we were in a secluded little hallway we stayed there until the others were able to pick up their side of the line. Sooner than I expected I was looking into the faces of the gathered Guardians and two young boys. We all had a rather long conversation recapping the events of the day that I won't bother to recount, the conclusion of which was that I needed to go to Southtown to make it snow. My powers were vast even then so it should have been a simple enough matter. 

Katherine understandably wanted to go, if only to see how Nicholas was doing. I, sadly, had to urge her against it. 

"But why?" My dear daughter asked worriedly. 

"Because it is very likely Nicholas has found the missing elf, or will find him soon. If we both go then there will be no one here to tell him what's happened when he comes back." I offered her a warm and what I hoped was a comforting rather than a placating smile. "So, Katherine, I need you to stay here and keep the yetis working and to tell Nicholas everything. In truth you have the most important job out of all of us. What use will it be to convince Nicholas to take his trip if the toys aren't all ready by then?" 

She nodded thoughtfully as she weighed the merit of my words. Thankfully she saw the truth and wisdom in them and agreed to stay in the workshop to maintain order. 

With that issue settled I quickly opened a gateway to send myself to Southtown and stepped through. On the other side I was met with three anxious spirits and two very awed boys. It didn't matter to me if anyone saw us or not as we _wanted_ to attract attention, so I started working a spell to call forth snow. I chanted and canted and pulled on all the magic  I had, twisting energy back on itself to build the power as high as I dared. I was working against a good deal of natural climate and while I might have been able to whip up a blizzard further north I knew here all that would result was a mild snowfall at the most. 

It was all for naught though. No matter what I tried the weather wouldn't change. The children despaired and the Guardians deflated as well. Everything looked hopeless, for who could make it snow if not myself? There was no one else we knew with that sort of power other than maybe Nicholas with his Christmas miracles, but he was still recovering and I wasn't about to ask him to tax himself like that. 

Sanderson, however, had a sudden thought which he shared with us. There was someone he knew, a young winter sprite by the name of Jack Frost--the very Jack Frost Phil had railed against--who was very skilled in the ways of ice and snow and cared about children almost as much as the Guardians did. He conveyed that the lad frequented a little town by the name of Burgess and that even if Jack wasn't there at the moment he would return there before long. With no other obvious options I opened another bridge to the place bringing the boys with us as they insisted on helping. Truth be told I had a good feeling about them and realized they could help us convince the winter spirit if need be. 

Once in Burgess we followed Sanderson to where he thought we'd most likely run into the sprite. We all ended up by a lake in the middle of the woods just outside of town, calling for the young ice spirit by name. The Wind carried our cries far and high and we didn't have to wait all that long for a response. A voice sounded on the Wind, circling us and filling the woods with an upbeat tune. 

Perhaps he was so happy it was winter in the Northern Hemisphere that he couldn't contain himself, perhaps he had just done it on a whim when we just happened to be there, perhaps he knew he had guests waiting for him and he felt the need to show off, whatever the reason Jack came flying in with a song on his lips. 

" _I'm Mister Whiiite Christmas, I'm Mister Snooow_. _I'm Mister Iciiicle, I'm Mister Ten Belooow_! _Friends call me Jaaack Frrooost. Whatever I touch... Turns to snow in my clutch_. _I'm too much_!" He looped through the air, spinning around his staff like it was at times a pole and other times a surfing board. 

The Wind seemed to bounce his joy back at him and playfully echoed his voice with a bit of a distorted twist to make it sound as if he had ghostly accompaniment. " _He's Mister Whiiite Christmas, he's Mister Snooow--_ " 

"That's right!" The boy whooped as he plunged theatrically towards the ground. 

"-- _He's Mister Iciiicle, he's Mister Ten Belooow_ ," the Wind cheered him on. 

" _Friends call me Jaaack Frrooost._ _Whatever I touch... Turns to snow in my clutch_." Jack landed lightly on the surface of his lake like a dancer and was almost instantly back in motion skating around the frozen plane. 

" _He's too much!_ " The Wind echoed again. 

" _I never want to see a day that's over forty degreeeees_. _I'd rather have it thirty, twenty, ten, five and let it freeeeEEEEEEeeze_!" On the last word he flourished his staff and caused a wave of flurries to drift down through the air to cover the immediate area around us. 

" _He's Mister Whiiite Christmas, he's Mister Snooow,_ " came the haunting refrain. 

"That's right!" The icy teen swung his staff again which kicked up more powdery fluff. 

" _He's Mister Iciiicle, he's Mister Ten Belooow,_ " the hollow echo repeated. 

" _Friends call me Jaaack Frrooost. Whatever I touch... Turns to snow in my clutch ...too much._ " Jack brought his staff down to harden the ice on the lake and give it an even brighter sheen. 

" _Too Much_!" The Wind called back. 

With the song and theatrics over with Jack laughed as he skated over to us. "Hey Sandman! I see you brought a bunch of friends today. Oh," he crouched a bit looking at the boys in our midst. "I don't suppose you guys can see me too?" 

"Whoa," Caleb grinned, "that was pretty cool." 

"Well I know a few things about being _cool_." He playfully winked at the boy. 

"Can you really make it snow anywhere?" Claude was quick to ask, more or less cutting to the chase of why we were even there. 

"Anywhere you can name, I can make it happen. Or," he sheepishly smiled, "I can try." 

"Maybe we can help each other in that regard," I hastened to cut in before we all became terribly too off-track. "We need your talents to make it snow in Southtown." 

Where the boy was jovial and eager before he suddenly turned sullen and moody. "Yeah, about that... no can do." He sighed in a forlorn and imposed upon manner. "I would but there's this one stick in the mud who keeps me from making snow happen too far south. Maybe you've heard of him? The Easter Kangaroo." 

"I thought he was a bunny," Toothiana hesitantly questioned while both Nightlight and Sanderson nodded that they thought the same. 

"I have it on good authority that he's more of a Pooka. That aside," I looked back at the winter spirit, "if we could convince the Easter Bunny to let you snow in Southtown, would you be able to do it?" 

Jack just cockily smirked at us. "You get him to lighten up and I'll blanket that town with a blizzard the likes of which they'll never forget." 

"Awesome!" Claude joyfully shouted. 

"We'll be saving Santa in no time!" Caleb was quick to add with just as much cheer. 

Jack however came to a full stop at that. "Hold it, back that up. Santa Claus is in trouble? His big day is tomorrow, right? Or, well, technically tonight? People only know my name because of that chestnut song they like to sing around Christmas!" He looked quizzically between us. "The big guy's alright, right? I mean, I know being on the Naughty List means I get nothing each year, but he's still pretty cool. He likes snow..." 

"You're on the naughty list?" Claude asked in shock, apparently just as flabbergasted by the idea of a spirit being on the list as his brother. 

Jack just nonchalantly smirked. "I might _be_ the naughty list at this point. Hey," he tossed his staff between his hands, "can't help it if Santa's got a limited sense of humor, you know? Is there anything you guys could do about that list-thing? Get him to lighten up maybe?" The last comments were directed not at the boys but the rest of us. 

Nightlight gave him a thumbs up just as Sanderson motioned that we would see what we could do. 

Thankfully Jack understood and seemed even more determined to help. "Okay, we better get moving!" 

"But where do we go?" Toothiana intelligently asked. Again this was before Aster joined the Guardians, and we were unsure of where to find him back then. 

Jack, however, had his own theory. "I always thought Easter Island was a good bet. The accent fits, at least." 

Since none of us could think of any other places to look and I wasn't about to waste time attempting a scrying spell we all agreed to start there. I opened a portal for all of us to head through and in a matter of moments we were in the warm climes of the Southern Hemisphere. The sight that greeted us was rather confusing, there were hundreds of stone statues for as far as we could see. They looked mostly human save for the large rabbit ears adorning each of them. Unfortunately for us we weren't given the time to properly contemplate what we were seeing before the master of the house, so to speak, was upon us. 

The Easter Bunny, also known by E. Aster Bunnymund, was loping towards us at a breakneck pace and he looked anything but happy. "Jack Frost!" He screamed for us to hear, "Jack! You Little Hooligan! Get Off My Grass!" 

The icy boy bounded up into the air. "Easy cottontail," he held his hands up defensively, "I come in peace!" 

"It's true," Caleb and Claude spoke at once, "he's with us." 

The proud Pooka paused and looked around the Guardians to peer at the young boys. "And who are you lot?" It was only then that he seemed to notice the rest of us and gave us each a curious look in turn. "Oi, what are any of ya doing here?" Yet another recount of the pertinent information and day's events followed. After telling him everything we expected the old man to be sympathetic to our cause. 

We were unpleasantly surprised. Rather than being inclined to help us he just frowned and glowered. "Why would I wanna help that dill? He practically insults me and Easter every time we speak! Says what I do isn't important and that I'm _just_ painting eggs. Just, painting, _eggs_!" The large rabbit looked ready to pop out of his fur. "I'd like to see him make all his toys, without help, in a matter of weeks instead of having a full year to do it all!" 

He continued to grouse and complain for a few minutes before Jack chose to interrupt. "Look, this is all fascinating and everything, but we're kinda on a tight schedule here." 

"Tight schedule?!" Aster roared back, "Tight _Schedule_?! You cause the blizzard of '68 and have the ba- _ells_ to talk to ME about _schedules_?!" I suspect he was going to say something very different, but then remembered there were children present. 

From there things devolved quickly. Nightlight and Sanderson couldn't even calm them both down enough to actually talk or discuss anything. 

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X- 

Several little hands immediately shot up into the air, which caused Ombric to pause in his retelling of his misadventures with the Guardians. While the children might have been nodding off before they all seemed terribly awake now. With a bit of a frown and no small sense of worry he picked one of the children closer to the front. "What is it Aberdeen?" 

She sweetly asked in the most disarming voice, "Did they kill each other?" 

"What?!" The great wizard was utterly perplexed and disconcerted by such an inquiry. 

"Well you said they were fighting and the projection makes it look really bad." Another little boy pointed out. 

Ombric quickly reigned in his emotions to simmer just beneath the surface. "No Olaf, both Jack Frost and the Easter Bunny are alive and well to this day." 

"But what if they weren't? What if they had gotten into a real fight? Did they really fight? Did someone's nose get broken?" 

"James," the boy was honestly going to be the death of him. "I was there and can assure you no bones were harmed in the weaving of this tale." 

"But the story is all interesting now," another child wailed. 

"No, there were no deaths and no bloodshed." The wizard said in a final tone. All of his students groaned in disappointment that the prospect. "I'm sorry to let you all down with such a 'happy' story, but that's just how things played out." 

"Do you ever have any adventures where people die?" 

"Really, James, what is your obsession with death today?" 

"I was just curious!" 

Ombric only shook his head wearily. "I have many stories like that, but I'm not telling any of them today. I'm telling you of the worst day Nicholas has ever had to date, so if you please?" When no more little hands were raised and no one else looked as if they wanted to say something the wise teacher breathed a sigh of relief and continued on. "As I was saying... With no headway being made and our time running short Toothiana and I felt the need to take matters into our own hands." 

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X- 

The Tooth Fairy flew into the middle of the squabble to get everyone who was shouting to stop. Once everyones' attention was on her she spoke evenly for us all to hear. "You want to have this out? Be our guests, but we don't have the time to referee." At the winter and spring spirits' questioning looks she clarified. "We need snow in Southtown. If you both won't cooperate with us we'll go to someone who will." 

"Who?" Aster was quick to challenge. "Ain't no ice spirit that can help you. The south is staying warm because that's the natural order of things." 

"Then that's who we'll go see," I stepped in to clarify, "Mother Nature herself." 

Aster gapped at me like I had spoken about going back in time to undo key events in history. Sanderson and Nightlight looked to Toothiana for reassurance that this was a good idea. Her face was grim but firm in that regard, knowing just how serious our situation was and just what a visit entailed. The boys were slightly lost but also looked around all of us for some consensus of if they should be worried or not. I knew I must have looked about as grim as Toothiana since I also knew that none could ever call on the elder spirit lightly for frivolous reasons if we liked to keep our heads attached. 

"Um, sorry but did you say 'Mother Nature'?" Jack looked just as lost as the twins. "I thought she was just a concept, an idea, not a full out embodied spirit like some of us. You know, something the humans came up with to explain why all the weather happened when they lost the ability to see gods and elementals." 

Aster buried his face in his paws at that and started to mutter things which suspiciously sounded like he was asking for the strength not to murder anyone around him. It was a bit of a wonder we didn't all do a collective face-palm at that but the boy was young as immortals count things so his inexperience could be overlooked. 

"No boy," I carefully stated, "she is very much a living, breathing, spirit with a body all her own." Rather than placate him Jack seemed eager to ask even more questions about the nature of Mother Nature. With no real time to spare answering questions I put it to the Guardians and Aster to field any inquiries he and the boys might have had, then raised my hands to the heavens and began invoking Mother Nature for an audience in the language of stars. I might have been a bit rusty with the formal stellar language but my message seemed to get through all the same. 

There was an ominous crack of thunder and when the afterimages dispersed a tall woman of noble breeding stood on the spot the bolt of lightning had fallen. She was dressed in the flowing green bounty of the Earth, in vines and leaves and curled flower petals that had yet to change color from the newly sprung shoot. Her long black hair trailed down her back like a living waterfall of ringlets and curls, though there was something alive and shifting about it with her every breath. He features were cutting, sharp without being mean or jagged. The round softness of her cheekbones did nothing to belie the aura of predatory cunning swirling about her as a second skin. She was as beautiful as she was deadly and she knew it for it shone with solemn understanding in her burnished gold eyes 

"Whoa! _That's_ Mother Nature?" The twins hastened to pull back a step to hide behind Toothiana, who had bowed her head in greeting. 

"That I am." Said she as she surveyed the lot of us with a singular disinterest. Sanderson had conjured up a sand-hat to tip to her and Nightlight had bowed his head a little like Toothiana had done. Aster had gone into a low sweeping bow that made his ears touch the ground whereas I had just inclined my head respectfully in difference to my old bones. The boys kept to their position behind the guardians but it was Jack who was most at odds with the rest of us. 

The winter sprite canted his head to the side and frowned with a deep consternation. "I still don't get it. There's plenty of spirits out there to take care of the seasons." 

Aster sprang up instantly to defend the noble lady."You mouthy little--" 

"Hold, Pooka," she held up a hand to ward him away, "I know well enough how to defend myself. Jack is it? Yes, the little frostling." She hummed to herself as she considered him. "It's true that there are many spirits that wield weather and sustain each season. I, however, govern all of them and promote life on this spinning rock." 

"Then how come I don't take orders from you? I've never seen you before today!" 

Mother Nature gave a wicked smile to rival that of her progenitor. "Haven't you? You follow the North Wind wherever he takes you, but what of those days when he just doesn't cooperate and take you where you want to go? Think about that, for a few moments." She coldly smirked more at his growing frown. "Alright, how many times have you flown over a town, a little town you were content to ignore as you sped off to a grand city destination but you suddenly had to stop--just _had_ to stop--and cause a blizzard?" At the sprite's growing fidgety discomfort she only laughed melodically. "Like needing to suddenly pee even though you were sure you were just fine not a moment before, no?" 

Jack only sputtered indignantly as a tiny bit of blue-blush colored his face. "That's not! You don't! I'm not!" 

Mother Nature just snapped her fingers and Jack Frost bodily jerked in response. Not a moment later a light snow started to drift from the skies. The winter spirit just stared in open mouth shock at what had happened at a loss for words because not only was it snowing by his own involuntary reflex, it was snowing in the Southern Hemisphere and Aster wasn't lifting a paw to stop it. I must admit it was rather impressive, though it did nothing to comfort the boys nor encourage them to come out of hiding. The Guardians did their best to keep them calm and as long as Mother Nature didn't turn her focus onto them I had all the confidence that they could do so. 

"Did you just make me crap out a storm?!" Jack suddenly screeched indignantly. 

To which Mother Nature only grinned. "That's right, you bladder is under my control!" The icy boy made a sound of discomfort that had her sighing in amusement. "Oh don't look at me like that, you were holding it in anyway. You're young and have a short enough recovery time. Don't worry you'll 'make' a new one soon enough." Somehow that didn't seem to comfort Jack, or any of us for that matter. There is a saying that Nature could be cruel but she was clearly teasing and attempting to get a rise out of the boy though for what reasons I'll never know. "Now to business," she finally turned to face me and folded her arms expectantly before arching one finely sculpted eyebrow in suspicion. "Why are you pestering me? Think quickly and choose your words carefully." 

"Then with all due respect I'll be to the point and forego normal formalities--" if anything she seemed to smile in relief at that. "Nicholas St. North is sick and in need of believers. There is a man, the Mayor of Southtown, who is ready to persuade his people into being just that if we but make it snow for him. Jack is willing but Aster will not let him snow in the southern part of the world, the lower United States included. We are at an impasse which I fear only you can break." It took me a moment longer than I'd have liked to realize what word I had just said, but her face had darkened into a storm-cloud all the same. 

Mother Nature lifted her chin and glowered down at me. The Guardian's were torn between coming to my aid and staying with the children. I silently urged them to stay where they were knowing that any threatening actions would just make everything that much worse. Aster had no stake in the matters at hand but was equally on edge from the irate look on the life-giver's face. Jack was, as far as I could tell, still in shock over the earlier events. 

When she spoke there was the fury of a tempest behind her words, though they were clipped and spoken in a deceptively calm voice. "Why, indeed, should I help you and your 'Santa Claus' when so recently you battled and battered my father into the earth?" 

I swallowed hard for once feeling as if things might not all work out for the best. "To be fair, he was insane at the time. How is he doing by the way?" 

"The Nightmares ate him." She deadpanned. 

"Ah," well there went that route. I tried to think of another avenue to take, some other path to convince her. 

"He's recovering well enough," she continued in a deceptively offhanded way. This then might be the key I was looking for. 

"I'm sure I could brew up a few medicinal infusions to help him along," I replied in a equally offhanded way. 

"I've no doubt your magic would help, but I think my father would require some _sweeter_ things to eat." Her gaze drifted casually over to alight on Sanderson and the dreamweaver instantly colored. He spun a few sand symbols so quickly that I couldn't make heads or tails of them but it was clear they were not meant for me with the way Mother Nature started to smile. "Well he is _still_ the Nightmare King, a few children's dreams won't be missed much." Sanderson only huffed and replied with something that made Mother Nature giggle and Nightlight cover his eyes and turn away with burning ears. "So you say, _Uncle Sandy_." With that she turned back to me with an amused look ignoring the sulking pout aimed at her back from Sanderson. 

"So, so wait," Jack seemed to finally come out from his shellshocked trance, "wait, we just... do whatever you say?" 

"Not all spirits, just any ones tied to the weather, seasons in general, the Earth, Life, plants, animals, living things, and any who are 'historically' bound to me through myth." Came her matter-of-fact answer. 

"Only just!?" 

"There might be more, that's the short list." The poor boy looked like he was about to have a conniption fit, perhaps Mother Nature saw it too for she took pity on him. "I'm called 'Mother' Nature, _Mother_. Humans believe I was first before all things and gave life to the world. Everyone listens to their mother, or their mother figure." She smiled ruefully at some private thought or another, perhaps the absurdity of humans. "Mix it together and what have you got? Me being the boss of a great many otherwise unruly spirits. Thank the stars my father was the parent he was so I had some working model to go off of." 

"Nicholas did say he only thought his ways were just a _little_ harsh." I helpfully offered. Her eyes did seem to soften slightly at that so I held out hope that things would go well. The boys still weren't brave enough to venture from Toothiana's or Nightlight's sides but Sanderson was completely relaxed now as if he was just waiting for everything to be done and over with. Aster looked only slightly worried about all that was happening and wary about being noticed himself. 

"Bunny," Aster's ears drooped at the sound of Mother Nature's voice. "They need the snow in Southtown. Let them have it." 

"But," he quietly and hesitantly asked, "the natural order?" He shuffled nervously at the glare sent his way. 

"Won't be lost or damaged for bending the rules just this once." She smiled sharply and I swear I could hear the gears in her head turning. "They didn't ask for the snow to last, just for it to snow. The town is due for a little precipitation, there's no real need for it to be actual rain. Besides," her smile shifted and turned to something more mysterious, "I'm quite sure you'll be too busy to care." At first Aster seemed rather confused, truth be told we all were. He must have worked it out on his own because Mother Nature said something in a language even I don't know and then the Pooka's jaw dropped. 

"Still confused here," Jack spoke up with slight concern. Soon everyones' attention was on him again with a mixture of curiosity and exasperation. "I don't _have_ a mother? I have a dad though--" 

"Congratulations and welcome to the club." Mother Nature frowned at him. "Your point?" 

"You said everyone listens to their mother--" 

"Or mother figure," she corrected. 

Jack seemed very ruffled with how taciturn she was being and stumbled over his words to get his next thought out. "Wait, so, does that, like, make you _my_ mother?" 

In all honesty we all just stopped for a moment. I have no idea what any of the others were thinking, but for my part I considered the boy. He was on the naughty list for reasons and I couldn't quite tell if he was asking in ernest or not. Mother Nature seemed just as lost over the sincerity of the question and made some rather inarticulate sounds neither confirming nor denying the idea. 

"Does that make Pitch my grandpa?! But MiM is my dad! That would make family dinners really awkward, right?" The boy groaned and covered his face with both hands. "I seriously don't need to be interested in my grandpa." 

That seemed to snap her out of her thoughtful reprieve. "Get off the lawn and go make it snow in the south." With that she took hold of Aster by the scruff of his neck and started to drag the bewildered pooka back to his Warren.

  

Thankfully Jack did as he was told without hesitation and flew off to cover the small town in white. The rest of us were left to take the boys back to their home before setting back to the North Pole ourselves. We made it back to Southtown just in time for the first few flurries to fall. It was a sight, I must say, with the way people were going about in wonder and awe of the snow. While we didn't see Jack again I'm sure the sprite was thrilled to cause a bit of mischief throughout the town. It was such a delight to watch that I admit we all lost a little time just walking the town to revel in the sense of amazement permeating the area.  

After returning the twins to their parents I took us all back to the Workshop as Toothiana and Sanderson insisted that they were going to see things through to the end, and that meant finding out if everything ended well. Sure enough we found Nicholas and Katherine staring up at the globe which tracked all the Guardians' believers and there was a new brightly burning cluster of lights in the souther part of the United States. Indeed it looked as if all of the states had a few more lights than the last time I had looked. My former apprentice was looking much better too and hardly sniffled as we approached. 

"Is curious thing," Nicholas slightly turned to look at us over his shoulder, "mayor of Southtown declared that tomorrow is national holiday for me, that I am to be taking vacation." The hint of an amused smile played over his lips. 

"So, what are you going to do?" Toothiana hovered over to his side. "Will you really take the day off?" Sanderson, Nightlight and myself all wore expressions of equal anxiety.  

Katherine gave a sad little sigh even as Nicholas turned to us with a happy face. "Yes. Children understand, have already been receiving letters from them saying that they will be missing me but that they wish me well. Will be Blue Christmas for many but will still be Christmas. Some even send _me_ gifts!" He have a deep belly rumbling laugh that eventually tapered of into a light coughing fit. "Ah, should be returning to bed now." 

"I'll go with you," I spoke up, "to see that you make it there in one piece." 

Nicholas only put up a token protest as we bid the other Guardians goodbye and headed back to his rooms. I tucked my former student in and wished him pleasant dreams and a nice, deep, restful sleep. And he did sleep, all throughout the night and into the next day, not even stirring once. 

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X- 

North jerked wide awake then bolted upright with a shout, his eyes taking a moment to adjust to the artificial darkness of his room. Hovering over him had been an inky spot of blackness far deeper than any of the other shadows. The blackness slowly resolved itself into a shaggy reindeer with wickedly twisted antlers and eyes like glowing embers of a dying fire. It stood with its mouth open just slightly as if scenting the air. He sat blinking at the dark beast for a few moments as the world pieced itself back together. 

His sudden moments had disturbed the other occupant in the bed and with a groan the being looked over with a molten gold gaze to frown at the creature looming by the bed. Moving on instinct a grey hand found and clutched a spray-bottle that North kept on the nightstand just for occasions like this one and quickly brought it to bare on the shadowy thing. After a few squirts the reindeer was a pile of wet black sand that resentfully squished its way out under the door. 

"Said the reindeer wouldn't be safe." Pitch mumbled as he replaced the bottle and snuggled back in under the fur throws and deeper into the violently Christmas themed pajamas he'd more or less aggressively adopted from North. He yawned once and frowned when the younger spirit didn't lay back down right away. "Bring your warmth back here." 

North shook himself out of his thoughts and looked down at the Boogeyman in his bed. "I dreamed unhappy things..." 

Pitch only snorted. "Sharing a bed with the Nightmare King. What did you think would happen?" Honestly that was why they had the squirt bottle now. Rather than saying that he just let his grabby hands take hold of the other's arm and started to physically drag him back under the (very much non-blanket) covers. 

"But was horrible! Was year without Santa--"

"Christmas was six days ago. It's New Year's eve for dark's sake!" Pitch sighed in exasperation. "Shadows you are impossible. Now lay down, hush, and snuggle me. I still can't temperature regulate or body heat on my own." That seemed to snuff out the last of the fight in the toy maker and soon the Nightmare King was able to wind his long limbs all around his personal furnace as North settled back down to sleep.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Yes Jack sang the 'Snow Miser' song by Rankin & Bass.
> 
> Yes this is basically the RotG version of 'The Year Without A Santa Claus'.
> 
> Love me, hate me, I just hope you all enjoyed the follow up to ['Purdy'](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1093162). Comments always welcome, critiques always adored. Feel free to babble at me, I don't bite.
> 
> ::Edit::  
> Now you can read/reblog this on [tumblr!](http://heartlessdarkness-mun.tumblr.com/post/74855332105/rotg-fanfic-the-day-that-north-said-nope) Please spread the love.


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